THE OLD DOG

It had stopped snowing but it made little difference to the old dog,who could not have been more wet and miserable.He lay huddled in a wretched heap,as close to the wall of the little house as he could possibly get.

Head bowed between his paws he looked out over the harsh ,frozen mountain side .He had reached his tenth year and could no longer keep up with the sheep and the wolves that fed upon them.So he had been relegated to sleeping outside,the shepard a son of the of the mountains cared little if he survived the cold Anatolian winter.He had a new, younger dog who would protect his livestock.

And so he waited ,watching the chickens watch him with their dead fish eyes.

Waiting is the curse of outliving ones usefulness.

Time passed, and Haci Mustafa and his new sheepdog came out through the door of the humble home.The youngster sniffed at the old one but soon let off after a sharp,growled threat from Haci Mustafa.He never looked at his old servant who lay miserable and hungry,half awake, half asleep in three feet of snow.He checked his equipment,satisfied he whistled for the young un who had gone back to wagging his tail and sniffing the neglected one,to set off for the days work.

He watched them go.The youngster full of life and energy.Sniffing and inspecting everything he scented across,until the Haci’s nerves were rattled and he delivered a swift kick to the young dog's rib cage .The old dog watched them walk along the path,that went upwards and then disappeared over a ravine.He watched them disappear from sight .After they had gone he watched the path they had taken until the first wolf appeared .

At first it did nothing standing on top of a rock,he merely stared at the dog.The dog looked up sharply at the wolf which was standing against the white sky.A low growl began to issue from the dog’s throat..Something in the old dog’s blood melted urgency into the worn out body.He began barking and felt his legs begin to quiver with fear and coiled up motion.This was what he had waited for, this was the reason he was waiting in the snow.The wolves had come down into the foothills in search of food.The dead frozen mountain passes had pushed them out into a world where they usually feared to venture ,the smell of humanity unnerved them.Yet they were starving, a desperate light glinted in their yellow eyes and under the soft grey pelts their haunches rose up confidently has they understood their prey was old and outnumbered.

The wolf jumped down from it’s perch and as though it was a signal,a second wolf began to approach the dog.They came over the rocks slowly at first,noses held in the air eyes never leaving the old dog who was growling has they came close and closer.His body was slung low to the ground ready to unleash it’s strength in the fight to come, his teeth were drawn back from his lips in a viscous snarl while the hair on his back stood up has if it were a seperate life.The wolves kept coming.

He was waiting,he had been waiting for a long time now.

The first wolf sprang at him lips pulled back to reveal sharp ,yellow fangs. The muscles stretched taught as he leapt,but the dog was experienced at fighting wolves.The wolf jumped into the air while at the same time the dog crouched low to the ground and sprang at the exposed belly and throat of the wolf .Before the wolf knew what had happened his throat was in the mouth of the old dog who was sinking his teeth into the jugular.

But the second wolf jumped on his back and attacked the back of his neck he emitted a high yelp of pain which allowed the first wolf to escape from the grip of his mouth.It landed on it’s back dazed and frightened struggling to get it’s breath back.Meanwhile the old dog was suffering. The wolf was strong and its hold was hard.They swayed together,the wolf on top the dog below,eyes bulging and mouths frothing.The wolf essayed to pull the dog over ,to roll him onto his back he let go for a second to secure it’s hold when the old dog immediately spun around, and with a snarl of rage hurled himself at the beast, who was shocked enough to back up. Jaws snapping and spittle flying, the dog fought back , his eyes were full of rage and life.

The second wolf,recovered now, rejoined the fight by attacking the old dog from behind he snapped at his legs making the old dog turn and try to bite him while having to immediately turn around to face the other wolf who was crouching to attack from the front.They had found the way to defeat the old dog and unless someone came to intervene it was a matter of time before the old dog was ripped apart.

And so they were worked him over.First one would bite his leg, forcing him to turn his back on the other who would then immediately attack his head and neck the dog would then turn to fed off this attack only to be attacked from the rear.

Bloody and tired, he fought on.The wolf in front of him was now pulling his ears off while the one behind him had almost bit his tail right through.
His eyes were being jabbed at now,and he cried out in frustration and rage as one of his eyelids was ripped off.The wolves were almost enjoying themselves ,the taste of blood in their mouths had exicited them.A salty scent was teasing their noses and it was causing a sadistic feeling of power to flow through them like wild sap.

The old dog made one last stand he lunged at his nearest assailant.He flew for it’s throat but found instead his mouth to be full of the wolf’s ear and so with one last effort he bit down as hard as he could while also pulling upwards ,ignoring the other wolf who had leapt on him and was ripping into the back of his neck,he yanked the ear off the top of the wolf’s head .His heart sang at the scream of agony that exploded out of the wolf’s throat.
He fell backwards as the wolf managed to pull him down,and then joined by it’s mauled companion they set about tearing the old dog apart.